She's Here!!!

My housemate/roommate has arrived!!! 

last night around 9pm we headed to the airport to pick Jen up. The airport is about a 30 minute drive from our apartment. She was scheduled to land at 9:50, so we arrived just in time. So we head to the arrival/departure board to see which door she would be coming out of only to find that her flight had been delayed 2 hours. Now she was scheduled to arrive at 11:40pm which means that she wouldn't be through customs until at least 12am. 

So we had two hours to kill at the airport. Our coworker, Ngan, came to the airport with us to help with translation if needed :) so I got to spend some more time with her. She sits across from me in our office so we talk a lot but it was nice to hang out with her and get to know her a little bit. She also taught me a couple phrases. We decided to get some food while we were waiting. So we got Pho, which is a popular traditional dish here. (pronounced Fuh). It's the first time I have really had it and it was delicious but a lot of food! She finished a lot faster than me and then commented on how little I ate. I still can't understand how they eat so much food. LOL. 

Waiting at the airport eating pho. :)  

I am really excited about being friends with Ngan. She is such a sweet girl and she wants to learn English and I want to learn her language so we are going to help each other! And it is always great to make friends with the locals. Plus she works at the school and you can never have too many friends. I am also praying that she will come with me to church sometime. She seems very interested :) Its really awesome to see what God is doing and how He is using me. I love making friends and sharing the love of Jesus! This is going to be an awesome year! 

Back to the airport, finally at 11:41pm Jen's flight arrived! So we stood at the big glass doors of customs looking at every foreigner come down the stairs trying to find her. We waited and waited and waited and waited. Getting the visa and going through immigration takes forever!! but at 12:20, Valyn (our principal) said, "The next person to come down the stairs will be her. I just have feeling." Low and behold he was right! The next person to walk down the stairs to baggage claim was Jen! We were all excited! Our entire English staff is here!!

She came through customs like a pro and we embraced her like family, because that is what we are here GIS family! 

Welcome to H@N0i Jennifer. It's going to be a great year!!! 

Welcome to this Foreign Land

Welcome to this foreign place where you are surrounded by a different language and look different than everyone else. I haven't quite decided if I am enjoying this or am terrified.

I traveled for 25 hours Tuesday-Wednesday to arrive at the beautiful place. I stood in line to get my visa trying to figure out where to go because no one spoke English. Then I had to get my checked luggage (10 pieces). 

I was so tired I went through customs with only 8 pieces :(. So I had to go back in and get the last 2. The customs agent wasn't too happy to see me go through again with another box of books. But I got all the books for the school through customs! Praise the Lord! 

My principal and his wife picked me up from the airport with two other people from our school. They were all so welcoming. The airport seemed far from our apartments but it was a chance to talk to everyone. 

My prinicpal and his wife bought some groceries for my apartment and let me borrow a set of sheet (because I forgot mine) so we stopped at their apartment first. Then we came to my apartment to unload all the luggage I have brought. The 7 boxes of books were no fun but I am glad they all made it through the trip.  

My first day here I slept pretty much all day. I woke up a couple of time to unload some of my own luggage but I would go back to sleep within an hour or two. I got the wifi password around noon so I was able to call home and respond to messages and emails.  

Then around 5:30 my prinicpal and his wife came to get me to take me out to dinner (and get me out of the apartment). We went about 5 minutes to a shopping center and had some delicious "American" food.

I was supposed to go to the school today but I slept too much. So tomorrow is going to be my first day! Please be praying that I do well and that this nervousness goes away. God is doing amazing things!

Saying See Ya Later

So it is here... the day I leave the United States for the first time and head to Beijing, China. I have known this day was coming for a good 6 weeks but I still feel like it snuck up on me. I am excited for this adventure I am on and I am excited to see how God moves and uses me. It's going to be so awesome!

So for the past couple weeks I have been saying my goodbyes. However I don't say goodbye, I say see ya later. Goodbye just sounds so final like we are never going to see each again and I am going to see everyone again (in a year!). And there is never enough time to say see ya later and get all your hugs in for the year. I am going to miss everyone so much!

So I haven't cried yet, I mean I have but I am sure there are many many many more tears coming. God has been allowing me to enjoy the time with my amazing friends and family and not harp on the leaving part of my adventure. I am saving these tears for my super long flight from Chicago to Beijing. Whoever is sitting next to me won't know what to do! 

Saying see ya later has been so hard. Realizing that these were the last times I would be able to hug people for a year was so hard. I am so glad God allowed these thoughts to come at the end of my time with my friends. That way I didn't harp on the sad part of leaving, instead I was able to enjoy spending time with the people I love. 

I also had to say bye to my kiddos. There are 5 kids I watch regularly who are interwoven into my life. I love these kids and I am so sad that I won't be able to watch and play with them for at least a year! They are all going to be a year older and a year smarter. Ugghhh. I better get tons of updates and pictures from their parents! (You know who you are!)

I also had to say see ya later to some of my best friends all week. I am going to miss them all so much! It's going to be so weird not talking to these important people everyday :(. I am going to miss everyone so much. But I know that this is where God wants me and I am so glad that they all support me! 

Last night I was making final packing arrangements and I was just praying that everything would go smoothly at the airport (luggage exactly or under 50lbs each, fast security, etc). So today we got to the airport I started getting anxious! I went to weigh my luggage and each of my 2 checked bags weighed 50lbs. Yes that is heavy but I didn't have to pay for excess weight! Praise The Lord! And then security had no line and I was through in less than 10 minutes. Even in the small things God provides. I can't wait to see what He does in China and how He uses me. It's going to be amazing!!!

So now I am sitting at the Louisville airport with Kristoff waiting for the flight to Chicago to board. I am so excited, anxious, nervous, and all the other emotions. I am truly excited about this adventure. Letting Jesus lead!